2023-06-29 21:00:05
She was expected, she arrived, without doubt on one of the most scrutinized moments of the week. The rain came to interfere in the debates this Thursday evening at the 24 Hours of Spa, offering a totally unexpected classification at the end of qualifying and a list of entries for the Superpole on which few would have bet.
Competitors, mainly Pro-Am and Bronze, were able to take advantage of a still dry track at the start of Q1 before the arrival of light rain to set times which will prove to be decisive for the final classification of these qualifications. In these conditions, it was Fabrizio Crestani (Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 n°58 – Grasser Racing Team) who showed the most spirit, dominating the general standings and the Silver Cup in 2’18″487, 56 thousandths ahead of the Audi R8 LMS GT3 n°9 – Boutsen VDS of Thomas Laurent, best time in the Gold Cup Aliaksandr Malykhin places the Porsche 911 GT3 R n°911 – Pure Rxcing in third position at 0″450 with the provisional reference time in Bronze Cup. A Q1 which also saw Franck Tija’s No. 216 – Modena Motorsports Porsche crash at the top of the Raidillon and cause the first red flag of the session.
With a track that had become tricky and the rain intensifying, the times logically deteriorated in Q2, with the best time for Julien Andlauer (Porsche n°92 – Manthey EMA) in 2’20″441, 68 thousandths ahead of Ricardo Feller ( Audi n°40 – Audi Sport Tresor Orange1) and 243 thousandths ahead of Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO n°999 – Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM).At the end of Q2, however, it is the Porsche 911 n°911 – Pure Rxcing which takes the lead for two tenths in front of the Porsche n°92 – Manthey EMA Note the contact of the Porsche 911 n°132 – GMG Racing by Car Collection of James Sofronas with a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at the Source, or even between the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 n°63 – Iron Lynx with a Team WRT BMW.
With an ever-increasing rain, Robert Shwartzman (Ferrari 296 GT3 n°51 – AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors) immediately set the fastest time in Q3 in 2’35″120, four tenths ahead of Maxime Martin (BMW M4 GT3 n° #46 – Team WRT), but Pure Rxcing retains the average advantage ahead of the #5 McLaren 720S GT3 – Optimum Motorsport and the #9 Audi – Boutsen VDS. #92 – Manthey EMA, which precedes Audi #40 – Audi Sport Tresor Orange1, Mercedes #999 – Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM and BMW #46 – Team WRT.
The final classification of this qualifying session finally takes shape in Q4 with a session interrupted prematurely after a red flag deployed just under two minutes from the end following the exit of Jordan Love (Mercedes n ° 79 – HRT). Matteo Cairoli dominates this last part of qualifying in 2’34″560 with the Porsche 911 GT3 R n°20 – Huber Motorsport, but it is the Porsche n°911 – Pure Rxcing which finishes on provisional pole, both in the Bronze Cup than in general.
The following are therefore qualified for the Superpole tomorrow afternoon:
Porsche n°911 – Pure Rxcing (Bronze)
McLaren n°5 – Optimum Motorsport (Gold)
Porsche n°20 – Huber Motorsport (Bronze)
Lamborghini n°83 – Iron Dames (Bronze)
Audi n°9 – Boutsen VDS (Gold)
Porsche n°44 – CLRT (Bronze)
Porsche n°92 – Manthey EMA (Pro)
Porsche n°91 – Herberth Motorsport (Bronze)
Audi n°40 – Audi Sport Tresor Orange1 (Pro)
Lamborghini n°78 – Barwell Motorsport (Pro-Am)
Mercedes n°999 – Mercedes-AMG Team GroupM (Pro)
Ferrari n°51 – AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors (Pro)
Lamborghini n°60 – VSR (Silver)
Audi n°11 – Audi Sport Team Comtoyou (Pro)
Audi n°12 – Comtoyou Racing (Silver)
Audi n°17 - Scherer Sport PHX (Pro)
Lamborghini n°6 – K-Pax Racing (Pro)
Lamborghini n°58 – Grasser Racing Team (Silver)
Mercedes n°79 – HRT (Bronze)
Porsche n°23 – Grove Racing (Bronze)
The BMW n°46 – Team WRT of Rossi – Martin – Farfus finishes 21st and first eliminated, but the Mercedes n°79 – HRT having caused the final red flag in Q4, the latter could see its time canceled and qualify the n°46 in Superpole. Other favorites who will not be in Superpole include the absence of the Mercedes n°88 – Akkodis-ASP of Gounon – Marciello – Boguslavskiy, the BMW n°32 – Team WRT of S. van der Linde – D. Vanthoor – Weerts, BMW n°998 – ROWE Racing from Harper – Verhagen – Hesse and n°98 – ROWE Racing from Eng – Yelloly – Wittmann, Audi n°25 – Audi Sport Team Saintéloc from Mies – Niederhauser – Gachet, the Ferrari n°71 – AF Corse – Francorchamps Motors of Rigon – Serra – Fuoco or the Lamborghini n°63 – Iron Lynx of Pepper – Caldarelli – Bortolotti.
The Superpole will start tomorrow at 3:35 p.m. and will be watched live on Endurance-Info via the GT World Youtube live stream.
All times are HERE
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